Assuming you already have an IB account, just load up MBT's homepage (as it shows the live spreads) and compare yourself. No need to rely on 3rd party opinions for something that fluctuates by the second.
That is correct. I have run side-by-side real-time trading comparisons, and find that MBT is worse than IB. IB is also better than Currenex and HotspotFXi, though sometimes those relationships change. IB is also better than EBS for most currency pairs.
I'll compare IB with the MBT feed next week. I've also compared IB with EBS and HSFXi and found IB the winner about 80-90% of the time. Btw, does anyone know what flow goes through HSFXi on Scandies vs EUR and USD? Is there anything at all?
EBS has a passive/aggressive fee schedule - that is for institutions, that is are direct market participants on EBS rather than a client that got access through EBS prime. No rebates, but price takers pay way more than price makers. Not directly applicable to individual traders tho.
Hi, it sounds strange to me as I did similar real-time IB and MBT quotes comparison and I found out that spreads in MTB are smaller(=better) then in IB. Ca 70-80% of time of my tests spreads in MBT ware smaller then in IB, for example: for EUR/USD about 0.1 - 0.5 pip, for EUR/JPY about 0.5 - 1 pip, for GBP/USD about 0.5 - 1 pip, for USD/CAD about 1 – 1.5 pip, for GBP/JPY about 1.5 - 2 pip. Regards Rem
If we assume that your findings are accurate and a fair representation, there are a few possible explanations for the different experiences we have had. 1) My testing is 24 hours, with an emphasis on less-liquid trading times where the problems usually show up. Perhaps yours were only sampled during New York session. 2) My testing is based on real trades of substantial size, not on looking at the inside bid/ask. You may find that MBT has apparently good spreads, but little liquidity to back them up. If you're a small trader, that is fine, but not good enough for larger size (many millions). 3) My tests were over a period of many months, but over one year ago. MBT may have improved in the interim.
They did, at least by my findings. IB usually had a consistent edge on them up until about a year ago, then the playing field leveled out. After the Lehman fallout, MBT's spreads were the first to tighten up considerably. Haven't seen a big difference in liquidity, most of the providers are individually quoting 3-5M on both platforms, though you do see the occasional 10-100M heavy hitter on IB (in EUR/USD). 3-5 levels deep you're at 10-20M at MBT (levels are tighter on MBT due to 0.1 min quote vs 0.5). At the end of the day, the commission differential pretty much nets the spread benefit out anyway (unless you can get a lower rate at MBT, say $30/M).
Isn't this the case with all of the institutional ECNs though? I can't imagine it being any different with Currenex, FXall, HSFXi, etc.
Note that commissions are negotiable at MBT, not at IB. More importantly, swap rates are also negotiable at MBT. Therefore, based on your comments, it might be worthwhile for me to give MBT another try.